1787 Soules Map of Rochambeau's Revolutionary War March: Boston to Virginia

This is the first edition of François Soulés map of the American coast during the Revolutionary War, illustrating Rochambeau's epic march from Boston to the Chesapeake Bay and Yorktown - a key achievement that contributed to the decisive American victory at Yorktown.

A Closer Look

Oriented to the northwest, coverage embraces the American east coast from Boston, Massachusetts, to the Chesapeake Bay and James River, including New York, Long Island, Philadelphia, and New Jersey - thus embracing the primary theater of the American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783). Rochambeau's epic march from Boston to Providence, to Philadelphia, and ultimately to Williamsburg and Yorktown is laid out in detailed stages: there are 54 camps between Williamsburg and Boston, 40 between Providence and Yorktown, 8 between Lebanon, Connecticut and Phillipsburg, New York, 7 between Trenton and Kakiat, New Jersey and 14 marches from near Annapolis to the vicinity of Williamsburg, each of the camps being numbered.

The map closely follows a manuscript preserved in the Rochambeau Collection at the Library of Congress, titled Côte De York-town a Boston: Marches De L'Armee 1782. It is probable that the author of this map used the original Rochambeau manuscript map as the source for this work.

Rochambeau's March

During the American Revolutionary War, French General Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau, played a pivotal role in the decisive campaign that led to American victory. In 1781, Rochambeau led a French army of 5,500 troops from Boston on a grueling march to join General George Washington’s Continental Army near New York. This coordinated effort culminated in the historic Yorktown Campaign, where the combined American and French forces marched south to Virginia, encircling the British army under General Cornwallis at Yorktown. The French and American forces, alongside a French naval blockade, effectively trapped Cornwallis, forcing his surrender on October 19, 1781. Rochambeau’s march was a strategic triumph and a critical element in securing American independence.

Publication History and Census

This map is based upon a 1781 French manuscript map housed in the Rochambeau Collection (Mss. 59) at the Library of Congress. It was issued in the second edition of François Soulés' Histoire des troubles de l'Amerique Anglais. The first edition, published in 1785, did not contain any maps. Thomas Jefferson, after reading the 1785 edition, approached Soulés with suggestions for updates and revisions. He delivered his proposed corrections in 1786, in time for them to be incorporated into a new 1787 edition. The new version, with Jefferson's edits, was much improved with maps as well as a chapter on Jefferson's efforts to reform the laws of Virginia during the Revolution.

The separate map is weakly represented in OCLC, but Soulés Histoire is well represented.